The Metrics of Myself

Over the past few years as I took on the journey of pursuing a fulfilling life after entering adulthood, I soon realized that in order to live passionately, I have to be able to clear the constant obstacles that I face. To do that requires constant improvement over many aspects of myself, and figuring out what needed to be improved on and what are my long term goals for personal development was the first obstacle I had to encounter before all else came, and perhaps the most crucial and difficult one. With my best efforts I have summarized the set of things that I think collectively illustrates who I am in 6 aspects.

1. Technical Competency

This category encompasses the set of knowledge, skills and expertise that I possess in my occupation. These are easier to be quantified and viewed for projected growth in both short and long terms. I often think about where my skills can take me to the next level, and vice versa, how I can improve my skills to take me to where I want to be and achieve my goals. Horizontal growth is also very important, and this includes broadened knowledge in the same field of expertise or even different ones, how they all relate to each other and can be applied to different scenarios. Moreover, personal hobbies in a polarizing field can offer very different perspectives at many things and can be applied greatly in many aspects of life.

2. Relationships and Social Networks

My relationships with the ones that I hold dear in my life have a dramatic impact on my life, as they often play significant roles that affect my decision makings and the way I view myself. Similarly, the role I play in my social circles is also very important as it defines my role in society and the ways that I contribute to it. Although easier to be said than done, it always makes me feel better when I question myself if there are certain things that I could do or have done differently to serve the better interests of my friends and family. Gradually I will get better at this as I take more responsibilities in life.

3. Personal Values

No goals can be achieved if there aren’t any values that are clearly defined, this holds true not just for big organizations but for individuals as well. These personal values are the foundation of a meaningful life because they allow me to truly understand myself and my goals. These can be very fine grained to a particular aspect of life or just for life in general, such as pursuit of high quality and ethics at work, honesty and integrity for myself, and forgiveness and gratitude at others.

4. Inner Strength

Inner strengths serve as the line of last line of defense when I am encountered with events that I have to cope with. In addition, it is also the source that drives motivation and willingness to pursue my goals. Over the past few years I have developed a fair bit of persistence and perseverance at difficult tasks, resiliency at failures and catastrophic events, and adaptive reactions at stresses. However, I’m only at the tip of the iceberg at uncovering the full potentials of these.

5. Physical Wellness

The bottom line to be able to do anything is to have a healthy and functioning body. The easiest way to achieve that is to maintain a healthy and balanced diet that’s composed of the right proportions of essential nutrients customized for my own body. On top of being a healthy person, I also try to focus on keeping fairly fit by maintaining regular exercises and maintaining good habits to avoid deterioration of my vision, neck and back, such as taking regular breaks from extended periods of sitting.

6. Psychological Wellness

Last but not least, maintaining psychological and emotional wellness is very essential. Positive emotions contribute significantly to the overall well being of myself, and also serve as the driving force for motivations and good behaviors.

Its also crucial to maintain effective ways to express my emotions and feelings when needed, with minimal negative impacts on other aspects of my life. Figuring out when certain emotions can be expressed, the places and the people involved is very important.

They say a good start is already half of being successful, I guess I’m already off with a good start to achieve the goals I set for myself, but to get there I will have to try even harder.